Disciplined Passion
by rahiggin
Summary: Kaoru Kamiya is attending an elite school, where she is in her second year. She is noticing some changes this year with new arrivals. Will this be another easy year for her or will she finally be done with the boredom?
1. Chapter 1

Sitting at a desk in high school could be so trivial for her sometimes. Kaoru knew she could pass the tests anyway, and there just wasn't a challenge in it anymore. She had decided to attend one of the most prestigious schools in the country, where mostly rich kids attended. There were some kids that received a scholarship for a free ride as long as they kept their grades up. Kaoru knew she was part of the latter, and her family was depending on her.

This was a constant source of stress for Kaoru. It was barely nine in the morning and already she wanted to skip school. She would much rather be at her family's dojo practicing kendo. That was how she spent most of her time when she wasn't in school. She could hear the rhythmic tap of her bokken now. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Kamiya, we are waiting." Her teacher continued to tap the open book on Kaoru's desk repeatedly.

Kaoru snapped her head up to see her teacher standing right in front of her. _Oh shit! How the hell did I miss her get right in front of me? What are we even talking about? _

The entire class had been staring at her for only the gods knew how long. Kaoru didn't like this sort of attention as she could feel their looks. They were wondering if she would be able to pull it off because it was apparent she hadn't been paying attention.

She looked quickly to the board and back to the teacher's face. She answered, "The square root of 3." Kaoru's teacher made a face that was almost exasperated, straightened up, and walked back to the front of the class. Once again she was right.

Kaoru didn't know how she was able to do the seemingly impossible of knowing what the answer was all the time. The knowledge came from out of nowhere. Her teachers had not been able to find a weak spot in her abilities. This particular teacher seemed to try her best to catch her off guard.

As Kaoru made her way down the hall to her next class in a daze, she didn't notice all the stares as everyone backed out of her way. This was the norm for her, and she had learned to ignore it altogether.

"Oowww!" Kaoru had been so deep in thought she had accidentally bumped into her friend as they were headed into their advanced Physics class.

"What's up Kaoru? Did you hear about the dance we are going to have in two months? I wonder who I am going with? I mean, I know it will be fun and I am going to look great. We should do a double date or a group thing. That would be so much fun. Are you coming over this weekend?" Misao started talking as they both walked into the class and headed to the back.

Kaoru tried to keep up with her fast talking friend that never seemed to tire. Misao Mackimachi was the best friend that Kaoru had made on her first day of school her freshmen year. They were both sophomores now and were ranked top of their class. Everyone knew it. Some students respected them and others resented them.

"The usual. I'm bored and want to be anywhere other than this place. I saw some posters about the dance and heard some freshmen girls talking about it." Kaoru paused to place her books on her lab table. She smiled big as she turned to her friend and said, "Well, you know I am looking forward to seeing these rich kids' faces when we tear up the dance floor."

Misao's eyes lit up as a mischievous smile formed on her face, and both girls giggled. Before Kaoru could say anything else, the bell rang. Kaoru stayed in her seat at a table in the back of the class by herself, and Misao walked back towards the front of the room to have a seat in a chair next to her partner. The teacher had placed Misao with a struggling student and Kaoru was left without a partner.

The teacher walked in smelling strongly of cigarette smoke, and pointed his index finger at the board. The entire class was quiet and alert as they read the board. Professor Saito was extremely strict and had a very sharp tongue. His students knew better than to trifle with him. This was his first year teaching at their school, but he had already made quite a name for himself as the most feared professor. He sat down at his desk and leaned back in his chair.

A moment later Kaoru felt something strong pull her thoughts from her textbook. It was a strange feeling that she had never felt before as if gravity was pulling her in the direction of the classroom door. Kaoru would have felt alarmed, but it felt like she was gaining something she didn't know she had been missing until now. She looked expectantly towards the door to see what was the cause of this feeling. A guy wearing the school uniform everyone else donned walked in the door. He had bright, red hair and a beautiful hue of violet eyes. Kaoru knew better than to stare but she couldn't help the emotions that she was suddenly feeling.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The redhead entered the classroom, and he could feel the entire class staring at him as he stood in front of the teacher's desk. He passed Saito a note and waited while the professor read it over. Saito's yellow eyes narrowed as he looked from the note back to the new arrival. The professor spoke loudly to address the entire class. "Himura Kenshin is joining our class. You are late so find a seat and get to work."

Kenshin held the professor's gaze and nodded before turning to walk towards the back of the class. As he made his way down the aisle, every person in the class watched him walk towards the back. _This is going to get old fast. Just be patient Himura. _He forced his features to stay indifferent and looked for a place to sit. He found an empty seat at a table in the back and looked to the person sitting next to it. His eyes fell on azure and his breath caught. Kenshin hardly noticed her messy bun, pale skin, and rosy lips because he was losing himself in her seemingly endless river of blue. Floating toward the empty seat, he could not find it in himself to pull his gaze away from those deep, blue eyes. He continued to stare at her while taking his seat. The warmth he felt in his gut was spreading over his body. It was an electrically charged pull.

Saito cleared his throat loudly. Kenshin found it quite difficult to unlock his eyes from hers, and he noticed that she didn't look away until several moments later. He could tell that she looked slightly embarrassed as a light blush spread across her cheeks. He opened his book and began the reading assignment. With much difficulty, he didn't dare look toward this girl that was next to him for the remainder of class. He was rather startled by the strange feeling that was so close to overwhelming him. There was a pull towards her, and he was straining to seem normal and unaffected. Through his peripheral line of sight, Kenshin saw the girl's name on her journal written in decorative, squiggly handwriting. _Kaoru._

Kenshin could smell jasmine all around him and was drowning in it. This Kaoru was affecting all of his senses. He needed to get away from her so he could think. Outside was sounding really good right about now. Most people in the school wouldn't tell him anything anyway. He was a new kid and so they would steer clear as he was unknown.

Kenshin saw the girl continue to peer over at him and it was becoming too much for him. He was counting down the seconds that the bell would announce the end of the class. This madness needed to end and quickly. He didn't know what would happen if he looked into her eyes again. It was becoming very tempting for Kenshin just to glance over because he could feel her warmth right next to him. He wanted to reach out to touch her. No one would even notice.

_ Ring. _The bell rang loudly. Kenshin moved lithely out of his seat and headed towards the door without looking back. He knew that _she_ was watching him with a wide-eyed stare. The further he moved down the hallway to go outside the more he wanted to turn back and find the girl. He could still feel the warmth but he was losing it the longer he stayed away. He caught himself frowning at the thought.

* * *

Kaoru watched in shock as the mysterious redhead almost jumped off his seat in the most graceful move and made a beeline to the door. She thought he would have tried to talk to her after _that_ - whatever _that _was. Kaoru got nothing. Not a hi, a bye, or even a backward glance. She felt a little lost at this point and could feel the pull becoming less and less. The feeling of something missing was coming back full force and it hurt. She could have sworn he had felt something when they made that visual connection. Was she wrong? Had she just imagined it.

Kaoru looked down momentarily to gain control of her wondering thoughts. This would have to wait. She reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. As she reached to gather her things, she looked up to see aquamarine eyes waiting almost expectantly.

"What was that all about?" Misao struggled to keep from jumping up and down. Kaoru had never showed any interest in any one person so Misao was more than interested to know why this guy caused a change in her friend's typical lack of interest.

Kaoru looked back at her friend with a blank look on her face and Misao bit her top lip to keep from smiling. "I...I...What?"

"I saw you staring at the new guy. Did you know he is a senior? Wow! He is so in to you. Sooo, what are you waiting for? We better hurry to our next class while you explain yourself."

"Oh right. Let's go." Kaoru paused to finish getting her things and hurried with Misao trailing. Kaoru had become pretty good at deflecting Misao but that required much concentration. Right now she just didn't have the ability to focus on anything other than violet. So she did the only thing she could. She ran. Kaoru knew Misao would attack her at some point to try to get information from her, but she would have to wait until later. Much later.


End file.
